


a spilled secret

by planetundersiege



Series: A Drabble A Day Keeps The Doctor Away [206]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, AtLA AU, Drabble, F/M, Nonbender Callum, Rayllum, Waterbender Rayla, tdp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 15:42:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19976515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planetundersiege/pseuds/planetundersiege
Summary: Callum is a nonbender, Rayla is the first to find out.





	a spilled secret

Tears were running down Callum’s face as he was sobbing uncontrollably. He sat by the river and tightly held a pebble until his hand whitened, and then threw it, letting the stone skip over the flowing water, before finally sinking, leaving only a few surface circles that soon also left.

He couldn’t do it, he just couldn’t.

He was a disappointment, and there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn’t worthy of anything. He couldn’t do what people expected of him. He had always felt insecure, but now, when Ezran had begun to learn how to firebend, and now airbend, it had gotten so much more. That was, his failure was even more noticeable, and unlike him being bad at every sport, this couldn’t even be fixed no matter how hard he worked.

Born a nonbender, always a nonbender.

“Callum?”

It was Rayla, her voice came out of nowhere, but he didn’t even bother to turn around. Instead, he threw another pebble. All in his mind was the royal ball, the royal courts and nobles all laughing at him, shaming him, and him running out of the palace. It had started when the nobles had asked Ezran to perform some firebending, and then the airbending basics he had learned. After all, a prince as the avatar, it was an honor. But as Ezran got all the attention, the nobles wanted to see how his brother, Callum, compared.

That moment, the secret had been spilled, and he was the laughing stock of the ball, even more than before.

“What is it Rayla?”

“How are you feeling?”

“What do you think? The world’s most powerful people made fun of me for not being a bender. It was already bad that I’m not the Fire Lord’s real son, but biological or not, a prince should be able to bend. I’m just a joke to them, and I feel like one too.”

He heard Rayla sigh and sit down beside him. He get her hand as she carefully wiped away his tears, looking into his eyes the entire time with a smile.

“Callum, there’s nothing wrong about being a nonbender.”

“Says the waterbender that’s the heir of the Northern Water Tribe to a nonbender prince of the Fire Nation, that also so happens to be the brother of the avatar. I know I would have always been overshadowed by Ez, because yes, he is the avatar. But I would have been respected for being able to bend, which I can’t. I can just image what they’re saying to my father. “Poor Fire Lord Harrow, being cursed with a nonbender son. You must be delighted that your heir turned out to be the avatar in return, atleast you still have a legacy”, that’s probably what they’re saying.”

“Callum…”

“I don’t want your pity, or your “I understand”, because you don’t. You’re the heir to the Northern Water Tribe,  _ and _ you can bend. You’re everything people expect of a princess, while I’m the opposite of what a prince should be. I’m a failure.”

“Callum, you’re not a failure. You’re you, funny, artistic, honorable, and one of the bravest people I know. Your bending doesn’t define you, but your acts do. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend, I couldn’t care less about you being able to bend or not. And if those people really respected you, they would also see who you really are. You’re Callum, and that’s the best version of you. People that don’t see that aren’t worth your time.”

“So, you’re not mad about me never telling you I can’t bend?”

Rayla shook her head.

“Why would I be? You’re the same Callum I’ve always loved.”


End file.
